After President Donald Trump said homeless people in D.C. must be moved far from the city, crews tore down an encampment near the Kennedy Center on Thursday morning and crammed people’s belongings into a garbage truck.
A homeless senior citizen and members of a small group of protesters quoted the Bible as they urged the federal government and D.C. to protect homeless people.
“I look at it as anti-Christian. I remember the passage of, ‘As you have done to the least of these, you have done unto me.’ The idea that he’s targeting us and persecuting us feels wrong to me,” said David, a 67-year-old who said he had stayed at an encampment in the Foggy Bottom area for over six months. He quoted Matthew 25:40.
News4 video shows crews jamming a mattress into a garbage truck. We saw a heap that included tables, appliances and what appeared to be gas-powered heater. Some people stacked their belongings in shopping carts and left the area.
Like David, protesters also quoted Scripture.
“Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their maker. Proverbs 14:31,” one sign said.
“Being unhoused is not a crime” and “Being poor is not a crime,” other signs said.
White House officials said earlier this week that homeless people in D.C. can go to shelters, treatment or jail.
“Homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their encampment, to be taken to a homeless shelter, to be offered addiction or mental health services, and, if they refuse, they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.
Homeless people were told at about 10 p.m. Wednesday that a “scheduled encampment cleanup” would occur. Flyers were affixed to their tents. By morning, an area with about 12 tents was empty.
As crew members put up caution tape in the encampment on Thursday morning, David asked questions.
“Where’s this opportunity to put my things in storage?” he asked. “Where’s the person working for the government that will answer questions?”
Officials have said shelters, mental health services and addiction services will be offered. But residents seemed unclear about what would come next for them.
Earlier this year, Trump ordered Mayor Muriel Bowser to clear what he called “unsightly” homeless encampments near the White House and the State Department. Residents were given one day’s notice. City policy listed online at the time said residents would receive 14 days’ notice of an encampment removal.
Trump federalized D.C.’s police department on Monday and deployed the National Guard in response to what he called out-of-control crime.
Local advocates and leaders are raising concerns about the federal plan to clear homeless encampments in D.C. News4’s Walter Marris reports.
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
